The Netherlands are seemingly in a strange situation currently. They were taken over by Louis Van Gaal who helped the team's transition from an aging side to a much younger side. Yet, he did not quite complete the transition. He left it halfway through; Manchester United came calling. However, the Netherlands were simply not the finished product. The experienced Guus Hiddink came in. Hiddink has a very good record with national sides and seemed to be the right choice. Yet, the Dutch have won just one out of three qualifiers so far in what was supposed to be an easy group.
On opening day, they were stunned by the Czech Republic. They fell behind but equalized through Stefan de Vrij. Deep into injury time, Vaclav Pilar scored the goal which condemned the Dutch to defeat. A 3-1 win over Kazakhstan on the second match day seemed to have somewhat steadied the ship. Unfortunately, the Dutch went on to lose their third qualifier as well. Two Gylfi Sigurdsson goals in the first half saw the Dutch trail. They had no answers and thus have only three points to show for three group games.
Their next opponent is Latvia, a team sitting just behind them in the table in fourth, having collected two points from three matches. They drew against Kazakhstan and Turkey but lost to Iceland by three goals. Having looked at the Dutch's vulnerabilities though, the Latvians will fancy their chances. Another defeat for the Netherlands could end Hiddink's role as manager.
Will the Latvians inflict more pain upon the Dutch? Interested in learning more about Euro 2016 Qualifying? Check out our Euro 2016 Qualifying Page.
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